Arteta ready to turn his back on Arsenal star amid blunt Saka warning – Footymercato.com

As the Premier League finale draws ever closer, it’s Arsenal who lead the pack in the closing stretch.

After coming up agonisingly short last year, Mikel Arteta’s side currently lead both Liverpool and Manchester City going into the latest round of fixtures. There’s still plenty of work to be done, though, before the Gunners can celebrate a first league title win since 2004.

Following a dramatic 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek, Arsenal will be hoping to pick up where they left off against Brighton last weekend when they welcome Aston Villa – and former boss Unai Emery – to the Emirates.

With Liverpool and City both in action and aiming to hunt down the Gunners, Mirror Football rounds up all the latest news from north London ahead of another huge weekend in the title race…

Arteta turns his back on midfield star

Arsenal are seemingly willing to cash in on Charlie Patino following reports that the Hale End prodigy is planning to make a permanent exit from the Emirates in the summer transfer window.

The highly-rated 20-year-old midfielder was tipped to be the next big thing at Arsenal after progressing through the club’s academy but has spent the last two seasons out on loan.

It’s now been outlined that Patino wants to move on for good – and Arteta is open to cashing in on the Gunners’ homegrown star to supplement his own summer transfer budget.

Read about Arteta’s stance on Patino here!

Timely Timber boost emerges

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Mikel Arteta has confirmed that summer signing Jurrien Timber is closing in on a return to action following an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The Dutch defender, 22, joined the Gunners in a £40million deal from Ajax ahead of the 2023/24 campaign but sustained a serious injury in Arsenal’s first Premier League match of the season.

Despite fears that his season was over, Timber is now expected to feature during the run-in, although Arteta stressed there was still “a few steps” for the defender to make.

Read Arteta’s full update on Timber here!

Saka sent England warning

Former Arsenal favourite Alan Smith has warned Bukayo Saka that he is at risk of losing his spot in the England team to Cole Palmer ahead of Euro 2024.

Saka was one of England’s star performers in the 2022 World Cup and has grown into an indispensable player for both club and country over the past two years.

But Smith believes that Palmer’s scintillating form for Chelsea has given Gareth Southgate plenty to ponder ahead of the summer – and that Saka could be the one to miss out if the England chief decides to integrate Palmer into his team.

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